METEOROLOGICAL NOTES DURING THE YEAR 1900. 211 



secondary growth, which is fatal to the satisfactory setting of 

 flower buds. In the case of rhododendrons the amount of 

 arrested or imperfect development of flower buds was very marked. 

 In regard to deciduous plants there was more diversity and 

 irregularity than usual. Why there should be a prodigality of 

 bloom on most of the prunus, laburnums, cherries, and wiegelas, 

 and such a meagre display on most forms of pyrus, chestnut, 

 lilacs, and hawthorns, is one of those features which are decidedly 

 puzzling to those who attempt to correlate the cause and effect of 

 weather on vegetation. That the conditions generally were of an 

 unsatisfactory nature was evidenced by the irregular and meagre 

 crops which were borne by most forms of deciduous trees, as even 

 those which bore a fine display of bloom did not by any means 

 set and carry heavy crops of fruit. In regard to annual vegeta- 

 tion, while cereals were an average in straw and grain, great 

 difficulty was experienced in harvesting these in a satisfactory 

 state, owing to the continuance of inclement weather. Turnips 

 improved towards the end of the season, and the crops were better 

 than was at first anticipated. The dearth of sunshine, combined 

 with the excessive rainfall, seriously affected the potato crop, 

 which was below average in quantity and quality, while in some 

 cases, when planted late on heavy soils, the crop was not worth 

 lifting. There was a superabundance of grass throughout the 

 season, and pasturage at the end of the year was unusually fresh 

 and green. 



Regarding the prospects for the coming year, deciduous trees 

 generally are in good condition, and, given congenial weather, there 

 is every prospect of an excellent display of bloom. It is different, 

 however, with most evergreens, which, owing to the super- 

 abundance of moisture and abnormally mild weather, are sur- 

 charged with sap, and ill-fitted to withstand a serious lowering of 

 temperature, or a long spell of dry, cutting winds. It is to be 

 hoped they will escape the ordeal they passed through in the 

 spring of 1900, which, though of short duration, left them sadly 

 crippled. The difficulty in getting evergreen shrubs to thrive in 

 our city yearly increases ; therefore, when the vitality of the plants 

 is lowered by such natural accidents as severe frosts, there is 

 small chance of them regaining vigour where the conditions, such 

 as obtain in a busy, manufacturing centre, are decidedly unnatural, 



